Neighbours light pollution

[JDM625]

A house across the road and up one renovated and had shrubs removed from their front garden. We've noticed 2 lights which are on from dusk till dawn which shine into our spare bedroom. They look like regular outdoor lights, but are so incredibly bright and akin to the brightness of lights on a sports field.I don't know if they are new or previously obscured by their shrubs.

Our next door neighbour, who directly faces this house, asked if they could turn the lights off at night or put them on a sensor, but the husband told her to F off and slammed the door. We recently had guests and despite the black out curtains, the room as illuminated all night by their lights.

We've previously swapped Christmas cards with the house in question and although we rarely talk, had no issues at all. DH went around to ask about the lights and the wife told him to go away, before the husband came up behind and slammed the door. If relevant, they are late 70's and our direct neighbour is mid 80's.

DH thinks if I go around, I might get further. Personally, I doubt it will make a difference and want to put a complaint into the council. What would you do?

Be a shame if they went missing

The lights that is, not the neighbours.

You need blackout blinds, fitted tight to your window, plus a solid pelmet over the curtains.

Try asking if they’d mind swapping the bulbs for lower wattage ones, rather than switching them off completely.

I might accidentally kick them over . . .

I feel for you, it would really disrupt my sleep. However, if neighbours refuse to engage, maybe the best way is to research really good blackout blinds as PP suggested. The problem with the curtains is the gap between the window and the curtain. In previous house my daughter’s bedroom had a street light outside the window and the curtains didn’t work very well. If you complain to the council then you may have to declare a dispute with a neighbour if you decide to sell one day.

@writingsonthewall @Arewethebadguys The lights are attached to their house, so unlikely I can sneek up and remove them.

Good points about getting better fitting blackout curtains. I will look into this and pelmets. I equally feel in summer when its hot and windows are open, our guests shouldn't need to shut themselves in to accommodate neighbours who have overly bright spotlights facing our home all night long.

How good an aim are you with an air rifle??! *joking!

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/artificial-light-nuisances-how-councils-deal-with-complaints

You did have me worried for a second! 😂

😂

My neighbours had a similar light.I think it was probably a light for building sites rather than residential properties. You might find that your local council will allow you to report excessive light from a house as a statutory nuisance. I ended up getting blackout blinds rather than reporting them so don't know if it would have had any effect.(I tried asking them nicely to change the light but they ignored me)

Perhaps you can’t remove them but I wonder if they could be angled away from the windows for example pointing at their grass. Do you know if they have cameras? I’d be tempted to give them a nudge using a long handled squeegee I use for doing the upstairs windows.

😂

Also I suppose you can also have strong lights I’d rather deliberately find the strongest one and aim it at their sitting room window. Bedroom too. Then pop it on techno flash.

Just reciprocate with a bright light directed at them. Maybe it flashes. They’ll learn pretty quickly.

Do this, you've tried to be reasonable and their not willing to resolve the problem so a little taste of their own medicine is the way to go

Thank you, but their lights are similar to this pic, so can't be angled down. I do think the bulb strength might too high, but don't know for sure. I can't believe how bright they are though when they aren't actually sports field lights. Its a very quiet, single access lane in a quiet village, so not much other light pollution which makes their lights seem more obvious.

Surely the easiest/cheapest option would be to use a blackout sleeping mask.

I would contact environmental health mentioning how they are affecting both you and your neighbour and you have both complained directly to them and they were aggressive. You tried being nice now use the rules.

Two can play that game OP. To defeat your enemy, you must become him.

Have a word with your local town or parish council. If the light is preventing you sleeping, it could be considered "prejudicial to your health" and they could insist it is altered or turned off.

Why the hell should they

Why the hell shouldn't they?

Because what the neighbour is doing is illegal